San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-09-10

keep me In the dark. am not easily kept
i'm the dark"
looked up at him quickly. How much
did he know? His voice had returned to its
old dry tone, and he chuckled softly.
81 heard whispers, plenty of whispers
My young gentleman began to have private
meetings with Miss Hilda and Miss Annis,
and bethought Inc that Master Gilbert
might find his lovely cousin more attractive
now that the money was on her side. I
wished him to fall in love with her, in
tended it; that would be checkmate. I
waited"
"Mr. Gascoigne, who has told you all thisP
Who has betrayed them? Not Ir'
mo, not you; you kept the secret remark
ably well, and longer than expected, when
you had every temptation, as great as could
make it, to save yourself by revealing 1t.
You did not tell me that my nieces set you
the example in meetings under the rose, and
that Annis was hiding yet morep'
"DO not be vexed with her." cried; "she
could not helpit. She could not prevent her.
self from becoming acquainted with Uric
at Norbury; she could not prevent herself
from loving him. twas not his wish or hers
that you were deceived. You will forgive
her, Mr.. GascOigne"
Have you not enough to think about in
getting forgiveness for yourself?' he asked
drily.
"Ah, no! 1t is more to them than even to
Gilbert and me. ! am not your niece; / am
only a paid secretary" l said bitterly, re-
peating Hilda's words. IL ought to have
resisted seeing him; perhaps he may have
been wrong to disObey you. But Annis and
Ulric-they have been innocent from first to
last"
my DEAR" said the old man, taking my
hand, ''yOu see that have watched you all,
prisoner as | am; whispers and cheSsmen
keep nothing back. | will tell you what |
am going to do. Until Annis gives me her
confidence never force cOnfdences-l
know nothing of these things. l am not
angry with her; and, when | die, | shall
leave her just what always intended to do
neither more nor less. As to Gilbert, al
though | regret for some reasons he did not,
as | certainly expected of him, court his
cousin Hilda, because now he has batfied
my plans lam satisfied with his choice. But,
fOrthc present, things remain as they were. |
am not going to let him come back; | know
we should get on no better now than ever.
! rescind none OF my orders, shall not leave
him any of my money, for am not in the
habit of changing my mind"
There is something which would be more
precious to him than your money; may tell
him that you forgive him%
Yes, you may" he said, after few mo-
mentS' hesitatiOn-''but not at present.
When you are married, you may tell him all
you please of what have said to you now;
a
everything else that goes on in this room,
not a word will have repeated. Ii Gilbert
knows forgive, he will hold out hopes of
the Grange, and neglect his work, and be i'll
a hurry for me TO die"
mo, mop | exclaimed.
"Yes, yes" he said testify; land | should
be suspicious Of him, and won't have
It'll I'll think about it when you are mar
ried, but not syllable shall he hear till
then. You can keep a secret, Miss Thorne.
Believe me, my dear, | know him better
than you do yet, and it's best for you he
should not know, whether | am alive or
dead, that he had my pardon. dare say
he'd think you were marrying him for the
chance of the Grange; he would find some
thing to be suspicious about, one way or an
other. He has all the GascOigne pride and
Jllt IdScOlSUt jealousy
OF course | did not agree that he knew
Gilbert half so well as l did, and was sure
Gilbert trusted me great deal too well to
be jealous. knew he had not any linger-
ing hopes of the Grange which Mr.. Gas
cOigne took for granted only wanted puff
to set them alight.
You must promise" he said.
''Since you wish It," answered slowly,
81 cannot refuse, sir; but"
Leave the butts; | can't argue. It's a
question of that or the withdrawal of the
pardon altogether" he said, with his die
tatOrial directness. Now for the Times, If
you please and business"
And so things relapsed into their previous
state, and the days passed on. We were
fettered, and were conscious of our shackles;
but we could do nothing. 1t was a strange
life, and at times l fretted and struggled
against my bonds; but Gilbert and were
all in all to each other, and could not be
unhappy while he was near. As for Craw-
for Garden, Mr. GascOigne, at my earnest
request, let me leave him when he came !;
but no hint of my dislike served to stop the
visits of the spy, or his assiduOus attentions
to me when l CHANGED to see him, although
he must have been aware / was the promis-
ed wife of Gilbert GascOigne.
Nor were my innuendoes more effectual
with Gilbert. Naturally he thought 1t all
due to illogical prejudice.
81 don't like him myself" he said, in his
frank way. But he is clever fellow, and
we are partners. You shall not see more Of
him than l can help when we are married,
darling"
Twas to stay three months longer at ST.
GabriePs Grange, in accordance with Mr..
Gascoigne's request; and it was now mid
June. 1t seemed that my last three months
under that roof were to be more full of anOm-
allies and contradictions than the first
three, only that Gilbert's love and Mr. Gas
coignes words to me were enough to far
oyerbalance the trials his demands entailed
on me. Yet felt that he was unintentiOn-
ally hard Oh u.s. that our lives were unnatur-
al, our relations strained.
Annis, encouraged by her uncle's receipt
of my engagement impaired her own to
him one evening when only l was with
them.
"YOu young people act by cOntraries now
a-days," was the old gentleman's character
istic answer. 81 conclude your affection for
each other quite Overcame your care for my
views on the subject; and your meetings
were dOubly sweet because they were secret.
suppose Miss ThOrne set you the bad ex-
amDlpP'